Unearthly by Cynthia Hand

Published: January 4, 2011
Publisher: Harper collins
Pages: 256
e-arc provided by: Netgalley and publisher
Summary: Goodreads


Clara Gardner has recently learned that she's part angel. Having angel blood run through her veins not only makes her smarter, stronger, and faster than humans (a word, she realizes, that no longer applies to her), but it means she has a purpose, something she was put on this earth to do. Figuring out what that is, though, isn't easy.

Her visions of a raging forest fire and an alluring stranger lead her to a new school in a new town. When she meets Christian, who turns out to be the boy of her dreams (literally), everything seems to fall into place—and out of place at the same time. Because there's another guy, Tucker, who appeals to Clara's less angelic side.

As Clara tries to find her way in a world she no longer understands, she encounters unseen dangers and choices she never thought she'd have to make—between honesty and deceit, love and duty, good and evil. When the fire from her vision finally ignites, will Clara be ready to face her destiny?
Unearthly is a moving tale of love and fate, and the struggle between following the rules and following your heart.


Ok, how do I tell you how great this book was without giving out major spoilers? With difficulty! I loved this book. I started reading yesterday, read about 20 pages and thought - it's ok, and went for supper. At 1.00 am this morning, I finally put the book down with about 40 pages to go because my eyes just would not stay open. Flash to later this morning, where I finished it and now I'm disappointed because I have to wait I don't know how many months to find out what happens to Clara, Tucker and Christian.


Before we go any further I have to let you know I'm team Tucker all the way. He is my new heart-throb. Tall, tanned, blond, dimpled, kind, well-mannered, popular, hot -I could go on and on, but you get the picture. Then there's Christian - tall, dark, handsome, popular, no dimples, hot in a god-like sort of way - are you getting that picture too! And then there's Clara, blond, conflicted, confused, gorgeous and she doesn't know it, kind, not popular, on a mission, angelic(!).


Throw in a younger, popular brother of Clara's, Jeffrey; a twin of Tucker's, Wendy; a girlfriend of Christian's, Kay; Clara's friend, Angela, who's a bit of a mystery; Clara's mother, Maggie and a mysterious bad guy, Sam, and you have all the ingredients for an amazing story. It was complex and exciting, with a build-up of tension towards the end that was almost palpable. The love story(ies) is beautiful and believable . The characters were well-written and real (especially Tucker), and I can't wait for the next two books.


I'll leave you with one of my favourite quotes from page 165 (?), enjoy.

'A lot of girls would be thrilled to receive Tucker Avery as a present, I know, what with the stormy blue eyes and the golden tawny skin and hair, the dimple carved into his left cheek. I have a mortifying flash of Tucker standing in front of me wearing a big red bow and nothing else.

Happy Birthday, Clara.'

Crescendo by Becca Fitzpatrick

Released: October 19th, 2010

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Copy provided by: ARC from publisher

Summary: Goodreads

Nora should have know her life was far from perfect. Despite starting a relationship with her guardian angel, Patch (who, title aside, can be described anything but angelic), and surviving an attempt on her life, things are not looking up. Patch is starting to pull away and Nora can't figure out if it's for her best interest or if his interest has shifted to her arch-enemy Marcie Millar. Not to mention that Nora is haunted by images of her father and she becomes obsessed with finding out what really happened to him that night he left for Portland and never came home.
The farther Nora delves into the mystery of her father's death, the more she comes to question if her Nephilim blood line has something to do with it as well as why she seems to be in danger more than the average girl. Since Patch isn't answering her questions and seems to be standing in her way, she has to start finding the answers on her own. Relying too heavily on the fact that she has a guardian angel puts Nora at risk again and again. But can she really count on Patch or is he hiding secrets darker than she can even imagine?

'Crescendo' is the much anticipated sequel to Becca Fitzpatrick's hugely popular 'Hush, Hush'. I read 'Hush, Hush' when it first came out and I remember really enjoying it. Strangely though, when I started reading 'Crescendo' I found myself with absolutely no recollection of what had happened in the first book. Oh, I remembered the character names, Patch and Nora, and I remembered that Patch was a fallen angel, but I couldn't remember any of the details. Sorry Ms Fitzpatrick.

Now, once I began reading, the details started to come back to me, and of course, the more I read the more I remembered. To be completely honest, my memory lapse did not affect my enjoyment of Crescendo in the end, but I did find it strange! May'be I've just been reading too many books?

Anyway, on to the book. Crescendo picks up right where 'Hush, hush' left off and Patch and Nora are enjoying coupledom. It would be too much to expect things to go smoothly for the pair of them, and before long a few spanners have been thrown in the works. One of the things I found myself thinking while reading this was how easily we think the worst of people. There are very few of us out there that, when faced with a nasty 'truth' about someone, will not believe the worst immediately. It is so much easier to believe the bad things than to fight to believe the good.

Patch and Nora are joined by Rixon, Scott and Vee, and Nora is tring to find out more about the death of her father. Vee is such a wonderful sidekick for Nora - I love the way that she is so comfortable in her own skin - I'm thinking it would be a good thing if more of us were as happy about ourselves as she is. Scott and Rixon are nicely presented as the good guy/bad guy - but are they good or are they bad? Nice bit of confusion going on there that I had fun unravelling. The mystery played out well and the characters worked for me.

All in all I quite enjoyed 'Crescendo'. Not one of my favourites, but a good read anyway.